01 · Who Jennifer works with

Jennifer works with stress, Anxiety, parenting issues and anger management

Jennifer lists 12 specialisms and 19 further focus areas. Specialisms are the subjects Jennifer chose to list first, which is the closest a listing gets to “this is my actual practice”.

02 · In Jennifer's own words

What Jennifer says about the work

Reproduced in full and unedited - not summarised, not tightened, not rewritten in a house voice.

I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in Utah, Colorado, Texas, and Florida, as well as a Licensed Independent Social Worker (LISW) in Iowa. With over 20 years of experience as a therapist, I bring both depth and diversity to my work. I was first licensed in Iowa and have practiced in Nevada, Utah, and even internationally in Australia.

Throughout my career, I’ve worked with a wide range of clients and settings-from a girls’ residential treatment facility to community-based programs supporting foster care and juvenile justice youth, and even within a men’s medium-security prison focusing on rehabilitation and reintegration. I’ve served as a therapist, clinical supervisor, deputy senior clinician, and senior clinician, and most recently, as Clinical Director of a residential treatment facility specializing in attachment issues.

I earned both my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Master of Social Work from the University of Northern Iowa. In addition to my formal education, I have advanced training in Functional Family Therapy (FFT), Schema Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and the Good Lives Model (GLM). My approach to therapy is strengths-based, drawing primarily from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Solution-Focused Therapy, and Motivational Interviewing within the GLM framework. I have experience providing therapy with individuals, families, and groups, and I value the opportunity to work with clients from diverse backgrounds.

Outside of work, I find balance through travel, hiking, paddleboarding, backpacking, and camping. I’m also a CrossFit Level 1 Trainer and strongly believe in the connection between physical health and mental health-advocating for sleep, movement, and nutrition as key components of wellness. Animals hold a special place in my heart as well; my dog Boomer used to join me for in-person sessions in Utah and still makes the occasional guest appearance in telehealth sessions.

Jennifer Fitkin, on the BetterHelp listing · read 8 Nov 2026

03 · How Jennifer works

The 9 approaches Jennifer lists, in plain English

These are the clinical methods Jennifer lists. The descriptions are Maker Therapy's, not Jennifer's - a general explanation of what each method is, so the list means something before you have spoken to anybody. They are not a claim about how Jennifer runs a session.

Acceptance and Commitment TherapyACT

Rather than trying to argue a painful thought away, ACT works on loosening its grip and getting on with what matters to you anyway. Sessions spend real time naming your values, then building action around them while difficult feelings are still present.

Attachment-Based Therapy

Reads present-day relationship difficulty through the lens of how safety and closeness were learned early on. The therapeutic relationship itself is treated as part of the work, because it is where the pattern tends to show up first.

Cognitive Behavioural TherapyCBT

Structured, present-focused work on the loop between what you think, how you feel and what you then do. Usually means noticing a thought pattern in the room, testing it against evidence, and practising something different between sessions. Among the most heavily researched talking therapies for depression and anxiety.

Eye Movement Desensitisation and ReprocessingEMDR

A structured trauma protocol in which you hold a distressing memory in mind while following a repeated side-to-side cue. The mechanism is still debated; the outcome data in post-traumatic stress is strong enough that it appears in national treatment guidelines.

The Gottman Method

A couples approach built on decades of observational research into what distinguishes relationships that last. Structured and assessment-led: it maps friendship, conflict and shared meaning, then works on the specific mechanics of how the two of you argue.

Mindfulness-Based TherapyMBCT

Trains attention on what is happening right now - body, breath, the thought as it arrives - so distress can be observed rather than automatically acted on. Strongest evidence is in preventing depression from recurring, and it is usually taught as a practice you keep doing outside the session.

Motivational InterviewingMI

A way of talking about change with somebody who is genuinely in two minds about it. The therapist does not argue for the change; they help you say your own reasons out loud, which is the part that predicts whether it happens. Common around substance use and health behaviour.

Solution-Focused Brief TherapySFBT

Starts from where you want to end up rather than from how you got here. Sessions look for the times the problem is already smaller and work out what is different about those, so the number of sessions tends to be short and the work concrete.

Trauma-Focused TherapyTF-CBT · trauma-informed

CBT adapted for people whose difficulty is rooted in a frightening or overwhelming event. Pacing is the point: safety and stabilisation come first, the memory itself is approached gradually and only when you are ready, and the aim is that recalling it stops hijacking the present.

04 · What happens next

From this page to a first session

Jennifer practises through BetterHelp, so the route in is BetterHelp's. This is that sequence, written by Maker Therapy from the platform's published process - not a description of Jennifer's own practice, and not a promise about how quickly anything happens.

1. A questionnaire, not a booking form

   BetterHelp opens with a set of questions about what you are dealing with, what you want from therapy, and any preferences on the therapist. You are not booking Jennifer at this point.

2. Naming Jennifer specifically

   BetterHelp matches algorithmically by default, so asking for Jennifer is a step you have to take. There is a field for requesting a specific therapist during sign-up, and you can switch afterwards from your account. Starting from a link on this page does not by itself assign you to Jennifer.

3. If the caseload is full

   You will be offered somebody else rather than put on a waitlist. Worth knowing, because it is easy to assume a match is the person you asked for.

4. The first conversation

   A first session is typically history and orientation: what brought you, what has been tried, what you want to be different. It is also where the questions in the next section belong.

5. If the fit is wrong

   Changing therapist on BetterHelp does not need a reason. A first session that does not click is common and is not a verdict on therapy. That option existing is the main practical difference between a platform and a private practice.

05 · Before you commit

4 questions worth asking Jennifer

Built from what Jennifer actually lists, so they are answerable and specific rather than generic. Maker Therapy's, not Jennifer's - Jennifer has not seen them and is under no obligation to answer any of them.

• “You list both Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Attachment-Based Therapy. Which do you lean on with someone like me?”

  Those two point in different directions - one structured and led by the therapist, the other led by you. The answer tells you what the sessions will actually feel like.

• “How do you decide when someone is ready to work on a traumatic memory itself?”

  Pacing is the biggest safety question in trauma work. A clear, unhurried answer here matters more than any credential.

• “With 20 years in, what has changed most in how you work?”

  Long experience is only an advantage if it has been examined. This tends to surface whether it has.

• “How do you handle the gap between sessions if something comes up?”

  On BetterHelp this varies a great deal by therapist. Better to know the rhythm now than to discover it on a bad week.

06 · Practical details

Credentials and licensing

Credential

LCSW

Licensed in

Iowa

Licence

UT LCSW 11774091-3501, TX LCSW 115783

Licence number

11774091-3501

Licence expires

30 Sep 2028

NPI

1023261401

Years in practice

20

Gender

Female

Languages

English

International clients

Not accepted

Listed since

15 May 2026

07 · Provenance

Where every line on this page came from

Jennifer's name, credential, state, subjects, approaches and biography are read from BetterHelp's therapist roster, which Maker Therapy re-reads once a day; this page reflects the reading taken on 8 Nov 2026. The licence number and NPI are cross-checked against public registers.

The plain-English method descriptions, the first-session walkthrough and the questions are written by Maker Therapy and labelled as such wherever they appear.

Maker Therapy is not BetterHelp, does not take bookings, and has not met Jennifer. There are no reviews or ratings on this page because we have no way to verify one. If you start therapy through a link here, we may be paid a commission - it does not change your price and it does not affect who appears here or in what order.

Something on this page wrong or out of date? Report it and it will be checked against the source.